Plagiarism In The Self Defense Instruction World

From some people you kind of expect it, but when it comes from a well known name in the field, it's just that much more disheartening.

The following post came from a thread I started in a forum that I run. It happened in 2016 so it may come off as old news, but considering some things I've seen in the advertising and teaching end of some instructors lately I felt it was relevant enough to put here on the Blog.

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From Tony Blauers FB Page, June 20, 2016

"In a Fight, it's not who's right that matters, it's who's left." (highlighted italics are mine)

The harsh reality is that your personal safety, your ability to detect, defuse or defend yourself rests on your shoulders. The standardized martial art and DT programs taught to most people just don't have the depth needed to handle the real-world violent confrontations of today.

Did that piss you off? It shouldn't. This isn't a biased opinion. This is merely a fact & the evidence is every bodycam or CCTV of real violence. Don't be pissed off at me, be pissed off at the bad-guys!

Your safety, like your fitness, is up to you. You either want to win your next fight or you don't. Our system will make you safer, sooner.

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Now where have we seen that first line statement before?

Does the content of those few sentences ring a familiar bell?

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Here's another use of the quote, this time from the Tonyblauerblog

http://tonyblauerblog.com/2009/01/23/its-not-whos-right-its-whos-left/

Part of our research is the conversion of the flinch and not the flinch itself. It’s a big area of confusion. You usually get that confusion from people who have an unconscious or conscious investment in how they look, not how they do. If you look at the PDF files on our website for the new training centre the slogan is “It’s not who’s right, it’s who’s left.”

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It's Not a Matter of Who is Right.....

by Carl Cestari (2003)

"People here may belittle sports arts...."

Who?

Almost EVERY "combatives" man of any note CAME from a combative sports
background. Boxing, wrestling, judo. WEF and O'Neill (SIXTH DAN-Kodokan Judo-
personal student of Uchijima Sensei, a NEWAZA LEGEND) are PRIME examples of
this.

What a 20 or 25 year old young buck and what a middle aged
businessman seek to get out of their training are TWO DIFFERENT THINGS.

As far as the "effectiveness" of ANY technique, well a FIGHT is a FIGHT. I know a guy
who got his head split open from a blow with a lead pipe. Know what? HE STILL beat
the shit out of the TWO assholes. SO WHAT?

You FIGHT like hell until either YOU'RE DONE or HE'S DONE.

AND why is it so hard to "get" that "close combat" is far MORE than "ax hands" and
"tiger's claws". It's ANYTHING THAT WORKS. Cracking someones "egg" with a
blackjack is close combat. "Kneecapping" some asshole with a bat or ax-handle is close
combat. Working some street punk over with "knucks" or "sap" gloves is close combat.
Using a shiv, push dagger, or a friggin' ball point pen is close combat. A steaming hot
cup of coffee right in the mug is CLOSE COMBAT.

I "know" guys who have DECADES of training in sporting combatives. YEARS of
competitive experience and TONS of knowledge. KNOW WHAT? Screw with them and
the LAST thing they are gonna think about is ANY "unarmed" mano a mano response.

As far as "building" attributes? OF COURSE! Athletics in GENERAL build many fine
and useful attributes. BUT....I know of MANY instances were individulas with NO
athletic background AT ALL have overcome TREMENDOUS odds. I have also
witnessed "champions" who were hell on wheels in the ring, and on the mat FOLD like
the proverbial "cheap suit" when the rubber met the road for real. SO WHAT?

But here's the REAL issue at the bottom of this ongoing debate.

Someone who has spent years training in "karate" has invested time, money, and maybe
blood sweat and tears in his pursuit. He WANTS to believe that what he has invested so
much in will WORK. Same for Kung Fu. Same for Aikido. Same for BJJ. Same for
Boxing. Same for Wrestling. Same for Judo. Same for Savate. Same for FMA. SAME
FOR ANY ENDEAVOR.

But that ONLY makes sense in the PARAMETERS of that SPECIFIC endeavor.
Competitive Judoka expect to compete within the well defined "rules" of THAT
endeavor. They DO NOT expect to enter a shiai and be knifed in the guts by the other
competitor. A boxer enters the ring and expects to fight under the agreed rules of the
boxing commission. He DOES NOT expect to be shot dead from across the ring by his
opponent.

Let's say you're a top level collegiate wrestler. By circumstances beyond your control(real
life does that) you have to face several desperate well armed foes. You're given a
"choice". Attempt to use your wrestling skills at which you are VERY GOOD, or grab a
12 gauge riot shotgun.

Now let's say you're at a relatives wedding. The booze is flowing pretty good and Uncle
Vinny gets a little out of control. Same choice as above. Use your wrestling skills to
restrain old Uncle Vinny or grab the riot gun?

I DON'T GIVE A RAT'S ASS about "style", "system", or any of that CRAP. WHY?
Because ALL I AM INTERESTED IN is what will SAVE MY ASS in the real world,
when it's for all the marbles. I have spent YEARS in Judo, I get attacked for REAL and I
grab a brick and pound the skel into mush. DAMN! I didn't get to use my Judo! OR....I
get grabbed from behind and manage to toss the skel to the ground with O-Goshi, THEN
I finish him with the brick. SO WHAT?

If a "tiger's claw" works GREAT! If "hadaka jime" works GREAT! If a kick to the balls
works GREAT! If a takedown works GREAT! If running the bastards down with my car
works GREAT!

Anyone out there "getting" this! IT AIN'T ABOUT what is or isn't "BETTER" or more
"EFFECTIVE". ANYTHING THAT SAVES YOUR ASS IS GOOD!

It's NOT a matter of who is "right", only of who is "left"!

Carl